'Speechless' Peter Malnati recalls the first time he played with Tiger Woods on tour: "You're handling this well"

American pro golfer Peter Malnati shared the hilarious story of how nervous he was when he played with Tiger Woods for the first time. Malnati is gearing up to defend his title in the 2025 Valspar Championship.

Peter Malnati turned pro in 2009 and has won two events on the PGA Tour and two on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015 and the 2024 Valspar Championship. He was also on the Web.com Tour where he won two events including the 2013 News Sentinel Open and the 2015 Brasil Champions.

Speaking ahead of the 2025 Valspar Championship, Malnati revealed that he was speechless the first time he was paired with 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods.

“One of the few times in my life I was speechless was my first time being paired with Tiger in a PGA Tour competition… Finally, I’m like, I’m sitting here, this is a guy I idolized when I was a kid, I’m gonna say something to him and so he starts birdie, eagle, birdie, and I look at him and say ‘Tiger, you know a lot of people get kinda nervous their first time playing with me but you’re handling this well,’” the two-time PGA Tour winner recalled. (Via Golf Today)

“He laughed, he smiled, and the rest of the day he talked to me like we were buddies and that was really cool for me, so that was, it was a cool moment… I honestly don’t think it’s a stretch to say that I play golf because of him,” Malnati added.

The 37-year-old golfer revealed that he wasn’t from a golf background, but watching Woods in the 2000 U.S. Open made him think golf was “cool.”

Peter Malnati has played in eight PGA Tour events this year. The PGA Tour star made his first start of the year in The Sentry at Kapalua Resort, where he finished at T53 with eight-under.

Malnati failed to make the cut at the Sony Open, American Express, and Farmers Insurance Open. He also missed the cut at the Cognizant Classic and Players Championship. He finished at T49 in the WM Phoenix Open and T68 in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.

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A look back at Peter Malnati’s victory in the 2024 Valspar Championship

Before his Valspar Championship victory, Peter Malnati was in a nine-year dry spell during which he hadn't won any events. However, in March 2024, he ended the career drought by lifting the trophy at Copperhead Course.

Although Malnati started the first round of the tournament with a bogey in hole one, he followed through by sinking seven birdies and carding a 66 at the end of the day. In the second and third rounds, the Newcastle-born maintained a steady pace by carding 71 and 68. On the final day of the tournament, Peter Malnati carded a four-under 67 and won the tournament with 12-under.